Quinn getting a kick out of Boston

Andy Quinn has certainly enjoyed a 2025 to remember.

It was a year unlike any other as the young Creggs man moved across the world to attend Boston College and play college football. His dream is to follow in the footsteps of Charlie Smyth and play in the NFL, something he admits wasn’t even on his radar four years ago.

However, a chance meeting with Tadhg Leader, who works as an NFL International Pathway Coach, kickstarted a sequence of events that has changed Quinn’s life.

Quinn, who spent his formative years playing as an out-half in rugby, showed Leader that he possessed the range and accuracy needed to kick at a high level.

Consequently, Leader took interest and soon Quinn was competing in Ireland’s “Kicking King” competition at the Aviva Stadium. The kicker/punter acclimatised quickly, winning that competition and earning the right to study in the UK and follow his American football dream.

Quinn admits that chance encounter with Leader kickstarted his love of American football and his chance to play college football in Boston.

“Tadhg was teaching a former rugby player, Peter Bracken, how to kick and I left down the camera and started talking to Tadhg. I kicked a few balls and realised I can do this but I never thought anything of it until the AerLingus College Classic when I won Ireland’s Kicking King. Then it became a bit more of a reality.

“I went to the NFL Academy. I wondered what it would be like if I didn’t get introduced to Tadhg and to American football but my life has changed for the better. I am extremely grateful for all the weird things that have happened since,” he told the Roscommon Herald.

After venturing to Loughborough to the NFL Academy, Quinn attended Kohl's Kicking Academy in Philadelphia, which was followed by a camp in Tennessee. He was subsequently ranked the fourth-best punter prospect in the US as well as the 12th best kicker, making him an attractive proposition for colleges across the States as Quinn possessed the unique feature of excelling in both kicking and punting.

A kicker specialises in scoring points via field goals and extra points, while the punter kicks the ball from their hands to help their team control field position. The Creggs man has excelled in both but remarked that he has now specialised in one field since attending Boston College.

“I am doing a little bit of both but if I was to go to the NFL, it would be as a punter and not as a kicker. I want to put all my eggs in one basket instead of falling between two stools. It is more of a strategic decision.

“You don’t want to be at the stage where you are kicking at a decent level, and you are punting at a decent level, but you are not excellent at either. I am just focusing on punting,” he explained.

Despite Boston College enduring a difficult 2025 season, winning just two out of their 12 games, Quinn made a name for himself in his Freshman (First) Year. The Boston College punter sat top of the ESPN net average punting charts, finishing his first year in college with an average of 55 yards per punt.

Topping an ESPN stat list is something that makes team executives sit up and take notice, even more so when it is completed by someone in their Freshman season. While Quinn admits that the achievement is a big boost, he feels that he now needs to improve further.

“It is big for motivation when you see that your hard work is paying off and you are at the standard you think you are. It also is something to hold the standard to. My average punt was 55 yards in 2025. It has to be that, or better, this year.

“It keeps me focussed. It doesn’t mean that I can get that and let it slip down. I have to keep at that standard for the rest of my career, which is going to be hard to do because I got a bit of luck with the way the punts went,” Quinn acknowledged.

Former Down underage goalkeeper Charlie Smyth has made a name for himself in the NFL, raising the profile of the game in Ireland even further, and it’s something Quinn is delighted to see.

Smyth and Quinn worked together under Tadhg Leader’s stewardship to hone their kicking. He admits that seeing Smyth getting his opportunity to compete in the NFL and kick for the New Orleans Saints has been a source of inspiration.

“We were training together when we first started. Just his ambitious drive to make it work, to go get it is what really struck me. There were other guys on the programme who thought ‘oh the NFL is a cool idea’. Charlie only had eyes for the NFL.

“To see him getting to fill out his dream has to motivate anyone — to see someone go and do such a crazy thing. What Charlie has done is even more unbelievable because he hasn’t gone to college in America. He has no film to back himself up.

“Day by day, he is showing what he can do. To show that sort of resilience by going against the grain is incredible and now he has got his opportunity,” the Boston College punter noted.

Quinn’s connections to Boston were established long before he realised. His great grandaunt, Nora Cunningham, was the first in Quinn’s family line to emigrate to Boston. She was 18 when she arrived. Soon, others would follow, including Quinn’s great-grandmother, Bridget “Bridie” Cunningham.

His cousin, Jimmy Fitzmaurice is currently living in Boston, with Quinn admitting it is a huge boost to have a family connection thousands of miles from Creggs.

“It is nice to have them there as a support when you are so far away from your parents who are the support for the first 20 years of your life. To have my cousin Jimmy there has been great. I can go to his house every Sunday and have dinner. We have some open practices and everyone’s parents are there, so it is nice to have someone to go to after practice to talk to.

“It makes it a lot easier to go away from home when you have people treating you like family over in the States. Jimmy is like an older brother to me, so it is good to have that there,” the Finance student stated.

Despite a disappointing season for the Boston College Eagles on the field, Quinn claims that the team’s ability to spend time with the students at the university’s Campus School has been a highlight.

For over 50 years, the Campus School at Boston College has educated students with extensive support needs, including complex medical needs.

Quinn’s younger brother Matthew has 22q Deletion Syndrome — a common genetic condition from missing a piece of chromosome 22. This means that Quinn, who learned sign language so he could communicate with Matthew in the very early stages of his life, appreciates the fact that he can work closely with the Campus School students.

“It just makes us realise how lucky we are to get the opportunities that we have got — not just as an athlete but also being a student and able to attend Boston College full stop.

“It is a massive opportunity that we need to take full advantage of. Working with the kids in the campus school allows you to interact with them and make their day better, and also to have that gratitude to be in the position you are.

“It does ring a bell from home for me because of what my brother went through.

“We get to build up relationships with kids in the campus schools. It is nice and I would like to think that if it was the other way around, if Matthew was in the campus school and I was back at home, someone would be doing it for him as well,” Quinn noted.

After a debut season to remember, Quinn wants to place himself among the best punters in college football while growing as a leader off the field.

“On the pitch, my goal is to be the best punter in college football. There are only three or four lads that get selected every year to the NFL, so you have to have a track record over three or four years and be able to say I am one of the top five. I want to be the best punter in college football statistically. That is not only for myself but that is to put my team in a better field position.

“Off the field, it is probably just to be a leader amongst the team. We had a lot of seniors this year and even though I will soon technically be still just a sophomore, I am one of the older lads on the team age-wise. I just want to be a leader on the team so I can have that impact on the younger lads coming in,” he noted.

Given Quinn’s journey to date, he will take everything 2026 has to offer in his stride.